Russia to create artificial gravity device for International Space Station

Russia has developed an new artificial gravity device for the International Space Station. According to Oleg Orlov, director of Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems, the device is expected to be installed on an expandable module.

Orlov noted that the device would be a centrifuge with a small radius, namely a rotating cylinder whose centrifugal force would simulate gravity. Orlov did not elaborate on the dimensions of the cylinder.

In spring 2016, Russia's S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia announced that it had finished testing a new expandable module similar to the American BEAM device. Developers turned to Roskosmos with a proposal to build a module to expand living and working conditions on the International Space Station.

The BEAM device was invented by private company Bigelow Aerospace. It was berthed to the International Space Station in April 2016 and expanded over the course of seven hours. It consists of a flattened ball with a diameter of just over 3 meters and a length of just over 4 meters. Station crew members enter the module three to four times per year to inspect it.

In 2005, NASA terminated the operation of the CAM artificial gravity module due to high costs. Its installation could facilitate the simulation of Earth-like conditions in dimensions of up to half a meter squared for the purposes of scientific experiments.

Currently, there are experiments studying the effects of artificial gravity on mice taking place in the Japanese segment of the International Space Station.